


DA Caitlin Snow, Nickname: Frost

by MoonlightShines (Thatkillervibe), painted_in_ink



Series: DA Snow 'Verse [1]
Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Alternate Universe, CCPD, CSI Barry Allen, Caitlin Snow District Attorney, Captain West-Allen, Cop Drama, Detective Cisco Ramon, Detective Thriller, F/M, Killer Frost Vigilante, Killervibe -Freeform, Ralph Dibny PI, Ralph is still not subtle, this is not that au, westallen - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-17
Updated: 2019-05-04
Packaged: 2019-10-29 11:55:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 19,303
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17807546
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thatkillervibe/pseuds/MoonlightShines, https://archiveofourown.org/users/painted_in_ink/pseuds/painted_in_ink
Summary: “I’m a detective, Caitlin. You weren’t gonna hide this forever."He looked at her earnestly, like he wasn’t gonna confront her with anything but the truth."Tell me about your dad," he said, pressing supportive hands gently into her arms, "I wanna help you. Does it have anything to do with why you’re investigating this case?”In which Cisco vibes that something is off about DA Caitlin Snow, in that she is one person in the courtroom and someone entirely different out in the field. If that didn’t make things bad enough, he was also really starting to like her.





	1. To Catch A Criminal

**Author's Note:**

> ** DISCLAIMER** We do not claim to own any of the characters in this story from the Flash Universe or any other Arrowverse characters represented. We do however claim the original storyline and plot points used in this Ao3 story. We ask that you do not reproduce or use any of our original plot from the DA Caitlin Snow, Nickname: Frost Universe without our written consent. 
> 
> Thank you, and enjoy.

Caitlin stirred as her alarm sounded at 7:00am.

 

She rummaged around blindly on the nightstand until she found the switch and turned it off.

 

Then she blinked.

 

Today was the day that she was finally gonna sink that crime boss down into the sewer where he belonged.

 

She got up and continued to mentally review the details of the case while she prepared to shower. This was gonna be a good day, she could feel it.

 

She stepped under the spray and recalled the incident from over two nights ago that finally caused this case to crack wide open. She’d already gone undercover long enough to find out just where the dirtbag had been hiding and doing his business. All she’d needed to do after that was get it on tape.

 

_“You sure you want to do this?” the detective asked another time for good measure while she finished securing the wire underneath her clothing. Frost grinned at how uncomfortable Caitlin was at the thought of her changing without modesty in front of their young contact from the police precinct. He politely ignored it, busying himself with other things and as he spoke, but she didn’t let that spoil her fun. Caitlin was too easy to tease._

 

 _She never let the detective think for a second that he was interacting with two different people, though. They’re working relationship hadn’t come_ that _far. For now their dark-haired friend was about as close as he’d ever get to understanding them._

 

_They’d been forced by necessity to get some help with this case, but with any hope this would be the last time they’d have to get so close to someone outside of their little internal two-person team to get a job done._

 

_Frost pushed any disappointed thoughts coming from Caity away and dismissed the worry she heard in the cop’s voice._

 

_“There’s no need for concern, detective. I’ll be in and out.”_

 

_Without another glance, she stepped out of the van and made her way to the point where she was sure the deal was going to be made._

 

_~~~_

 

_Frost rounded a corner, stealthily following after the lead she had spent 20 minutes interrogating a total scumbag the night before to get. She crept around the corner to get a better look and...bingo. The illegal arms-deal was going down before her eyes. She pressed the button on her jacket to record the evidence which would be uploaded to her contact at the precinct._

 

_“Frost, you good?” asked the same cop, concern laced in his voice through the earpiece she wore._

 

_“Never better,” she hummed quietly. “You’re getting this, right?”_

 

_She tried to peak around the corner enough to capture better footage of the trade. She needed to make sure the weapons would be visible or this whole endeavour would be for nothing._

 

_“Yeah, just move to the left a smidge and I think we’ll have everything we need.”_

 

_She complied. She continued adjusting and re-adjusting to the best of her ability from her position. She was just about to move to another when one of the lookouts overhead spotted her._

 

_“Frost!” the detective shouted in her ear. His warning didn’t stop her from getting grazed before she returned fire._

 

_She hadn’t meant to get caught._

 

_Frost ducked beneath cover while gunshots rang out and she looked out into the street where her ride appeared shortly after. She hurried into the passenger side door as the detective peeled away, icing the road before they could be harmed or pursued any further._

 

_She pressed a hand to her side and breathed heavily while the detective told her to hold on as he drove to the precinct._

 

_~~~_

Caitlin watched the fading bruises in the mirror while she dressed. They would have easily been a week in the hospital due to broken ribs for someone else. They healed over nicely in the time it took to substantiate the evidence and get this case in working order. Caitlin thought about the detective’s concerned gaze as he’d checked over their wounds.

 

_“Damn,” he huffed._

 

_Frost sat on the medical table with her shirt slightly raised, and he was currently pressing along her ribcage to check for breaks or other damage._

 

_“Anyone else would have been a goner, Frosty.”_

 

_She detected a hint of admiration in his eyes when he pulled away. Deciding to cave to Caitlin’s interest, she held his gaze as he spoke again._

 

_“You’re quite the badass.”_

 

She had remained in her Frosty state allowing her wounds to heal while they reviewed the footage for which she’d been shot. That night they had developed it into workable evidence that would be substantial enough to hold up in court.

 

Caitlin had taken it in the next day and their team had the dealer apprehended. Their case had been pushed to the top of the priority list on the promise that she could hang the criminal for good and have him put away due to her performance today. Her years as a prodigy in law were about to be put to good use.

 

As she finished getting ready she heard Frost agree in her mind that this was the moment they’d been waiting for and that she was proud. Caitlin smiled a little on the way to the justice building. She ignored any teasing remarks made about her daydreaming with a roll of her eyes.

 

She entered the building and made her way to the courtroom to prepare before the trial. She’d studied hard in law school in order to follow in the footsteps of her father. Today she was gonna make him proud.

 

 _We got this, Caity,_ Frost reassured in her mind.

 

Before long the criminal was brought into the room and the case began.

 

~~~

She’d been nicknamed “Frost” a long time ago for her cold exterior in the courtroom when putting away criminals. If only they knew.

 

She allowed herself a private smile as she walked down one of the halls, having successfully put away one of the cities top criminals in the span of a week. She and Frost exchanged a mental high five.

 

She was about to make her way down the steps when she heard someone else besides the miles of reporters congratulate her and she turned.

 

There stood the only other person in this town who even had an inkling of a clue that there was more to her than just an ability to take down bad guys in a courtroom. There before her was the detective who had made her mission with Frost so successful a few nights ago, and was actually one of the main reasons this case went as well as it did.

 

She grinned just a bit as Cisco Ramon made his way down a few of the steps to chat with her, smiling and offering her a handshake. 

 

 _This is gonna be fun,_ she heard Frost say in the back of her mind.


	2. Coffee Dates...?

The pedestrian crosswalk sign lit up at the intersection and Caitlin walked quickly across the street. Her heels clicked against the sidewalk, and she checked her watch, hoping she’d have enough time to squeeze in a few more errands before the end of her lunch break. The sun was peeking in through the clouds, and it was nice, that she only needed a sweater over her shoulders, ditching the heavy jacket at home. It was one of those things people didn’t think about often, how women of the law were expected to wear pretty things like sleeveless dresses and paper thin stockings, but rarely those things coincided with what was warm.

 

A stranger opened the door for her at the storefront and a bell chimed as she stepped into the dry cleaners. Within two minutes the bell was chiming again, she was swinging back out with a garment bag holding her freshly pressed favourite blue pantsuit.

 

Her phone beeped in her pocket, and she fished it out distractedly, making her way back to her car. She paused, nearly colliding into the passenger window.

 

It was a text from Detective Ramon.

 

_I heard you killed it in court this morning. I knew Dominic was innocent._

 

Caitlin bit her lip as she climbed into her car, gently hanging up her dry cleaning on the little hook then buckling her seatbelt. She double checked the time. Forty-five more minutes until she was supposed to check in at the precinct. They had swapped numbers after their little conversation on the steps of the justice building, when he’d ushered her out of the cameras and fanfare and they talked for three blocks, Detective Ramon acting as her escort as they leisurely made it to her car. She was the one who gave it to him, on impulse, under the spell by his friendliness. He took his phone back with mild surprise, after she carefully typed her digits into his contacts, wishing him a nice day.

 

Her thumb hovered over the keyboard when another three little bubbles popped up.

 

Caitlin waited, wondering why those three little dots had her heart racing so much.

 

_Don’t tell the Captain, but I think out of all CCPD’s past DA’s, you’re my favourite :)_

 

She thought about Detective Ramon and his curly hair, how of course she’d think about that considering he rarely wore the standard police uniform hat to cover it. She thought about his eyes too, soft and brown, but wicked sharp.

 

 _Ugh. Boys,_ Frost muttered, grossed out in the back of Caitlin’s mind.

 

But Caitlin was smiling too hard to agree, willing Frost to be silent.

 

_If you liked my work so much, how come I didn’t see you in my court?_

 

She pressed ‘send’ before her brain truly caught up with what she was doing.

 

 _Yeah, what_ are _you doing, Caity,_ Frost questioned pointedly.

 

She was flirting with Detective Ramon. She felt alarm climb up the back of her neck, suddenly very unsure about what she was going to do. She had to go to the precinct in the next half hour. What would she do if she ran into him?

 

Her phone buzzed again and she looked down quickly.

 

_It’s my day off. I was sleeping in. Sounds like you missed me._

 

 _Presumptive. You barely know me, Detective,_ she fired back, biting her inner cheek. She was able to breathe a little now, knowing Detective Ramon wouldn’t be lurking around one of the police department’s corners, ready to ambush her with those smooth lines in person.

 

_Feels like I do. I mean, I’d like to. Get to know you. Maybe over coffee? I have a few questions about the mob ring case._

 

_And please, call me Cisco._

 

She blinked at the direct ask out, surprised. She had to admit, he was good. And...she _liked_ him. She studied the text. But was it really a date, he was asking for? Or was it work? He said he wanted to talk about the case, and knowing his dedication with the operation with Frost, she knew he took his policing seriously.

 

Either way, it would have to wait.

 

She had the meeting with Captain West, files to complete from this morning’s trial, a convict to visit in their holding cell, not to mention her own legal research matters she’s been needing to take care of.

 

 _I thought it was your day off,_ Caitlin replied, then second-guessed herself. That sounded abrasive, and that wasn’t what she meant. _I can’t today. I’m sorry._

 

_What can I say? I’m a workaholic. :) And I get the feeling you are too. Hey, no worries, you’re a busy woman. I’ll see you around._

 

 _Thank you, Cisco,_ she replied, then put her phone away.

 

She only had a little more time before she’d have to head to her meeting. She still had no idea what the Captain had called it for. She figured she’d get a head start and drive over, just to give herself some time to prepare.

 

She pulled in and realized that she wasn’t going to get it. The Captain hadn’t yet left for lunch.

 

~~~

 

“Miss Snow, pleasure as always.”

  
Caitlin smiled as the Captain winked at her, gesturing for her to follow her lead and take a seat in her office.

 

Caitlin made herself comfortable, eyes wandering up to the wall where a new photograph was hanging.

 

“Captain West,” Caitlin smiled, echoing her.

 

“West-Allen.” Iris corrected, raising an amused eyebrow.

 

Caitlin glanced back at the picture framed on the wall, internally frowning at herself. She’s not one for errors.

 

 _Distracted, are we?_ Frost quipped.

 

“Whoops. Wow. Haven’t made that mistake in a while.”

 

“It’s fine. I know hyphen takes some getting used to.”

 

A knock on the door interrupted them, and the Captain’s husband walked in, apologizing profusely as he handed Iris a brown paper lunch bag.

 

Caitlin lowered her gaze as the couple kissed to give them privacy, but couldn’t help the twitch of her mouth at the soft endearments coming from the CSI.

 

“Hi Barry,” Caitlin greeted eventually, once Iris had settled down in her chair, taking out an apple from the bag.

 

Barry waved at Caitlin politely before awkwardly taking his leave.

 

“So,” Iris said, with a mischievous look on her face. “Do you have a dorky handsome significant other to call your own?”

 

“I thought we were here for the official submission of my final address from this morning.”

 

“We are,” Iris hummed when Caitlin slid the folder from her opened briefcase over the desk. “But who says we can’t chat? Despite doing my best to make my department equitable the female to male ratio in this building can get depressing. And we haven’t caught up. You’re avoiding my question.”  

 

Caitlin remained tight-lipped, refusing to answer.

 

Iris knew that game too well.

 

“Alright, we’ll sidestep it for now… I actually want to talk to you about something else I dug up over the weekend.”

 

Caitlin perked up immediately, her back straightening in the chair. Now, _this_ was more her speed.

 

“What is it?”

 

“A video I found, uploaded _with_ one of our computers but never officially used in a report.” Iris plugged in a nondescript USB into the side of her computer then scrolled through many zipped files. The cursor landed on a rather large one named “R-S?” and double-clicked.

 

The footage took a minute to load, the annoying circle going around in a loop as the black screen remained frozen.

  
And then. Caitlin’s heart stopped.

 

~~~

 

“So you are going undercover...” Iris paused, looking at footage from the other night on the monitor. Caitlin grimaced. She could only guess at how she’d found this. She even had the audio recording. They didn’t even use that for the _case._

 

“With one of my detectives as back up--” Caitlin started to protest that it was only once, but Iris held up a finger and continued, “--and you are retrieving all this footage to use in your cases before the state,” She clicked her tongue and mumbled “Clever,” before resuming her pace.

 

Then Iris slowed, her posture becoming serious. “And most importantly... ” Iris played the tape forward and stopped, right where Frost had returned fire when she had been shot at. “You do it using ice powers.”

 

Caitlin froze.

 

Iris leaned forward and hit Caitlin with a piercing gaze. Then... she cracked a smile. “Why didn’t you tell me you were a meta?” Her long-time friend and partner in crime eased into the comfortable rhythm you find only when you’re around someone you’ve known for a while.

 

She supposed that was true, they _had_ gone to elementary school together, been raised in the same town, and had pursued remarkably similar careers.

 

Still, Caitlin couldn’t answer her. Not about Frost, not completely. Her friend would never... Never forgive her. Not if she knew.

 

Luckily, Iris paid it no mind. Finding her question to be taken as rhetorical, or maybe never intending for it to be answered at all, she thought for a minute then stood and looked out the window. “Caitlin, I know you know that there are reasons why I think having meta’s help with the problems in this city is a good thing.” Caitlin thought about Barry and understandingly met her gaze.

 

They fell silent.

 

Caitlin straightened her back and decided to challenge it, betting that she could get Iris to lean to her side of things even more. “Do you trust me?”

 

“I do,” she replied without hesitation. “But Caitlin, I’m gonna level with you. There are next to no regulations for this when it comes to dealing with metas, and I know that you’ve seen me take extra measures to deal with this kind of threat at the precinct, but... This could cost you your job. Your reputation. Just because I understand you doesn’t mean the FBI would if they caught wind of this.”

 

“I know,” Caitlin responded, looking down.

 

“You and I, we can work on creating procedures, we _need_ to, but in the meantime, if you keep running around at night…”

 

“You mean catching, trying and giving due process the most ruthless meta criminals of this city? Doing more for our country with my own grit and brains than any formal federal system of security and intelligence?”

 

Part of that was Frost talking the back of her mind and she knew it. She always did have an almost vengeful sense of justice and little to no care for the rules. And she knew Iris identified with it, to an extent.

 

But Caitlin was still preparing for her to disagree and demand they stop. She bit her tongue.

 

“Don’t get caught.”

 

Caitlin looked up at her, surprised, then little icicles formed in her eyes and she felt Frost momentarily take command and respond. She arched an eyebrow, a slow dangerous smirk playing on her lips and her voice taking an icey tone as she spoke, “I won’t.”

 

Inwardly, Caitlin warned Frost not to push it.

 

Iris smirked. “And you wonder why they nicknamed you Frost.”

 

She dismissed Caitlin with another warning to be careful, then recommended her to get back to work.

 

She made another comment about giving her a heads up next time she was planning on borrowing an agent. Caitlin walked out of the office feeling relieved, but also like she’d dodged a bullet.

 

Just as she made it back to the lobby, Iris called her back in.

 

Caitlin hedged at the door, worried for a second that Iris completely changed her mind.

 

“My stepmother called me this morning. She heard about your success with Mr. Lanse’s trial. She said your cross-examination was excellent. Some of the finest she’s seen since her days working with the UN Human Rights Council.”

 

Caitlin was taken aback. “DA Horton-West? She liked my work?”

 

Iris put her hands on her hips. “Of course she does. And I do too. Now get back to it, Snow.”

 

Caitlin smiled and obediently left to return to her office.

 

When she arrived she sat down in her plush leather chair and smiled ruefully.

 

Sometimes with Iris... You couldn’t always tell.

 

~~~

 

Caitlin was bone tired when she got home. Some part of her knew she should give herself a break. As worn out as she felt, as close of a call she had, an indulgent meal ordered in and a comfy embrace with her bed’s warmth would be excused.

 

She toed off her shoes and cracked open a bottle of wine. With the glass held between her two fingers, she did _not_ go upstairs to her bedroom.

 

Caitlin set down at her desk with a sigh. There was always something about unsolved cases that made her feel like a failure, no matter how many successful wins, years in Iron Heights negotiated, or how many congratulations and television interviews she received.

 

She eyed the hidden wall in her home office, the one she’d left uncovered while she was at work, becoming lost in thought. She pushed away painful memories.  She was tired.

 

She couldn’t afford to be tired. This had to be done.

 

Caitlin took a deep breath, focused her mind and steadied her hands against the mahogany of her antique desk, meticulously studying the details surrounding the unexpected murder of ex-DA Thomas Snow.


	3. A Day In The Life

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, it's Paint here. Sorry this was so long-time coming, guys, got crazy busy and had to put off writing for a bit. But I totally believe this chapter was worth waiting to do well. Love the characterization so far, hope you'll enjoy it too!

“What about you, Cisco?”

 

Some days Cisco could trick himself into believing things were okay like before. That there was nothing jarringly missing or wrong about his life. Days when he’s patrolling, pulling his cruiser up to park right in front of CC Jitters to stop at the breakfast place next by and order a greasy breakfast sandwich to go.

 

When he’s throwing a pen at Detective Rathaway from across the room because he’s stickling and insufferable to just about everyone and everything that breathes.

 

Days off when he can Netflix _Parks and Rec_ until midnight. Days when he makes visits to the public elementary school to guest speak at an assembly about bullying and harassment and little kids cling to his legs, not wanting him to go.

When Captain West-Allen would mutter ‘detective pretty boy,’ under her breath when passing him by in the morning, teasing his police chic.

 

Slow days of paperwork when he got to bring it up to Barry’s CSI lab, getting caught up listening to his excited yet weird ramblings about carbon monoxide poisoning.

 

And then there were days like today.

 

Cisco’s throat was dry so he cleared it before responding, hunching his shoulders.

 

He collected himself a minute, painfully replaying parts of his childhood with Dante.

 

“I’d do everything exactly like he did,” he said, thinking back on it.

 

“He played piano so I played the guitar. He volunteered for Amnesty International, so I studied abroad in Panama. And I’d try and try to get my parents to _look_ at me—Just for once. I hated how he was the loved one, the favourite. But I loved him just as much—“ His voice caught.

 

Cisco couldn’t stop staring at his hands, sitting forward in the hard plastic chair.

 

He was so tired of reliving this.

 

But part of what the grief counselors always told him was that in order to fully accept the truth of what happened, he’d have to learn to accept himself as a different person now, too.

 

The kind of person that he’d be without Dante… around. In a world where they didn’t do almost everything together, and in a world where he didn’t have the shadow of his older brother to live up to… and be inspired by.

 

Now, just the memory.

 

“I remember the day we signed up for the police academy together. How we swore an oath to protect Central City together, but also... each other.” He couldn’t finish.

 

The group’s leader waited patiently.

 

His mind was cluttered like the space in this community centre, the walls littered with lease advertisements, music recitals, prayer meetings and numbers of babysitters for hire.

 

“It was my most important job and I failed.”

 

Cisco angrily swiped at his eyes. It was infuriating, how after eight months things were all still the same.

 

As if the grief counselor could read his mind, she firmly said, “It sounds like you’re still angry at yourself. And that’s okay, even if I were to ask, the majority of the room probably doesn’t agree with you. But those are your feelings and I’m not here to tell you they’re wrong.”

 

He was hearing what they were saying. He’s been hearing it for months now.

 

Maybe he should finally start to listen.

 

He shrugged helplessly. “I see him all the time.”

 

A middle-aged lady with dyed blonde hair sitting opposite of Cisco in the semi-circle folded her arms. “I used to see Harold too. Just tell yourself it’s a figment of your imagination, it’s what I do. I understand—”

 

“No—” Cisco interrupted tersely because they weren’t getting it. “No, you don’t. It’s different. When I—“

 

He cut himself off. He was going to say _When I vibe._  But he couldn’t even say that here. How could he? He couldn’t explain himself, couldn’t tell them that he gets visions of the past. That he’s a metahuman to a bunch of strangers.

 

“I think Cisco and Jolene’s experiences are different,” The counselor intervened. “Jolene, Detective Ramon’s brother died in the line of duty, technically meaning that this was a case of..” She paused, recognizing the sensitive nature of the conversation.

 

“Murder,” Cisco finished for her flatly. He knew the lines, but he’d learned better than to try and process through _that_ here with these guys. Dealing with the injustice of murder, that was a cop thing. He’d do better to handle it where his emotions could have free reign, or even at the precinct with someone who understood. Cisco didn’t take the very kind Police Chaplain up on his offers to help very much, but he’d call Stein about this.

 

And honestly, he’d learned better than to indulge it at just any moment, it was an exhausting thing. He had to deal with _that_ in the proper time and place when his emotions could be a mess and he was around people who could handle it.

 

There were little to no way that he had control when they got to talking about the _anger._ These guys didn’t know the half of it.

 

The leader had paused, watching to see if it was alright to continue. The rest of the room seemed afraid to break the silence, but eventually, she decided it was okay. “It sounds like Detective Ramon is experiencing what is called _survivors_ guilt, which makes his situation a bit different. Police officers often struggle with this in their stressful, dangerous profession. Roughly 20% of officers also deal with post-traumatic stress disorder. For Cisco, the answer just isn’t that simple. He works in this environment every single day.”

 

“Maybe you should retire from being a cop,” Jolene suggested.

 

Cisco bristled at that. “What? Quit when the going gets tough?” He laughed callously. “Yeah, No. CCPD is my family. I don’t regret wearing my badge. I’m damn good at what I do. I’m just…” He tucked his hair behind his ear, dropping his defenses.“He was my brother.”  

 

Nobody spoke up after that.

 

“Well, I think this session has been a relief for some, enlightening for others. Would anyone like to say anything else before we close?” When no one answered, the room filled out, but the counselor stopped Cisco before he could make it out the door.

 

“Mr. Ramon?”

 

He turned.

 

“You are aware that your feelings are welcome here, and I know that sometimes it may seem that we don’t all understand—”

 

“I get it,” he filled in for her. “It takes extra patience, but… I like being a voice for this kind of thing. And I’d rather have to explain it, in some ways than not talk about it at all.”

 

It was difficult, and it took effort, but he fought through and managed a smile up at the supportive group leader.

 

“I’ll see you next week, chief.”

 

~~~

 

Cisco picked up lunch from the Thai place across the street. He set it down on the kitchen table and flicked on the TV from the connected living room. The news droned on as he padded around the linoleum kitchen floor in his socks, sweats and hoodie, fetching a fork and sticking it in his mouth as he used both hands to carry over a juice carton and ice tray for his glass. Betov was meowing by his feet the whole way. He chuckled and shushed him when he got settled down. By now, the cat knew that he wasn’t gonna get anything from Cisco’s plate, so he settled comfortably at his feet and waited patiently for him to finish.

 

He looked up when CCTV suddenly cut to CCPD, announcing that they had breaking news. The fork dropped out of his mouth, and he cursed silently, picking it, up then wiping it clean against his shirt once he sat down. He forgot that the Dominic Lanse’ case was wrapping up today.

 

He watched as the broadcast switched to an anchor at the justice building. His lunch left untouched, going cold.

 

It was not uncommon that Captain West-Allen would get interviewed, but he was not prepared for the beautiful DA Caitlin Snow to appear in HD on his 86 inch screen.

 

She was beaming on camera looking like a dream, and she’d just won the victory of the year.

 

Cisco finally shoved some lukewarm pad thai into his mouth, laughing at himself a bit when he realized he must have rewinded it twice just to see the twinkle in her eyes as she spoke.

 

It’s been a while since he’d liked a girl this much. Maybe it was the way everywhere she goes, success follows. Or maybe it was the way she talked passionately about the terror Norvok instilled into the young women he had employed in his seedy bar to cover for their mob.

 

Maybe it was that other thing about her. The curious thing that had his senses tingling. Not...because of the attraction he felt for her, although, as Cisco watched Attorney Snow shut down a sexist remark about her dress, that was increasing by the minute.

 

No, his _other_ senses. The vibe he picked up on her.

 

At least, he was _pretty_ sure it was her. Like 87%. He thought back to the moment he had placed the com piece in Frost’s ear, then stepped back, hiding his gasp as he fell into a vibe.

 

She had been a completely cool, rigid, focused hard worker who seemed like she really loved to put a beating on the bad guys, but when he vibed her then it’s like he.. felt another woman entirely.

 

And he _knew_ he was still on this earth’s frequency, therefore it was all.. Her.

 

..67%.

 

Strong 63.

 

Okay, so he was still working on being completely accurate with that, but anyway.

 

_Her_.

 

It was like an entirely different person sat beneath the shell of this cold, focused, determined exterior. The person he had been working with the majority of the mission felt like one layer, but beneath it was like he knew there was something warmer, sweeter...

 

If he didn't know any different, he would think there were two completely different sets of emotions coming from the same girl.

 

Now, that was absolutely ridiculous, but he hadn’t had much time to think about it before she went and got herself shot at.

 

He had to chuckle, a little embarrassed as he recalled it…  He’d seemed like a worried mother hen even to himself, too busy checking on her wounds to even think about anything else the rest of the night.

 

At the same time, there was a part of him would never let himself dismiss the protective instinct that rose up in situations like those.

 

And… if he was being honest, it felt nice to have someone to worry about again.

 

He’d been partnerless for as long as he could after Dante, even when they made him take Hartley, doing everything he could do to stay by himself on the job.

 

That changed a bit when a Frosty woman with a Frostier attitude had roped him into dealing with this case, and for some reason, it just seemed different.

 

It was risky, it was stupid, but someone had to do it or they never would have caught Norvok. And she was so confident and put together that he thought it would work.

 

..But when she got hurt, he freaked.

 

It startled him, and took him back to places he didn't want to revisit, but… It felt good to freak again. And he was gonna be damned if he let anything happen to her that night with him there. He drove as fast as he could and if she hadn’t seemed to be doing so well already he would have breached them to the nearest medical station.

 

Then she turned out to be fine, and he was relieved… And they'd won.

 

And then, later, DA Snow had gone and surprised him by giving him her number under an oak tree, after taking up his offer to walk her safely at the justice building. He felt that same pleasantly fuzzy feeling that he felt underneath Frosty, gentleness and warmth when they shook hands. He was pretty sure that’s when it clicked.

 

Cisco thought about the vibe for a minute, thinking about whether or not he wanted to try out his hunch.

 

Cisco wished he were right, that it was her, more for just his sense of curiosity or a good case, and his fingers itched to do something as she spoke on screen to get to hear DA Snow’s voice directed at him again.

 

He remembered some follow up details he wanted to ask her about anyway so he pulled out his phone and scrolled until he found the DA’s number.

 

He tapped his fingers against the table, reaching his hand down to scratch the furry head of Betov, still hopeful for a treat, as Cisco thought of what to write. The television was still going on about the trial, and so he just decided to be honest, telling her what first crossed his mind:

 

_I heard you killed it in court this morning. I knew Dominic was innocent._

  


~~~

 

Frost had sent Caitlin to bed hours ago, claiming that if she didn’t get any rest soon they would both dream of nothing but case files.

 

That didn’t stop her from staying up just a little past Caity’s normal bedtime... She glanced at the clock confirming that it now read 3:00 am. Caitlin never stayed up past 1:00, preferring to wake up early to finish uncompleted tasks than to try and struggle through the night. She didn’t function that well without her sleep.

Frost had needed some time to herself, anyhow, where she could think about whatever she wanted without it inevitably turning into a conversation or debate.

 

That lead her to the events of the day.

 

She was happy to see that Captain West-Allen approved of her methods, at least for now, because Frost couldn’t stand another minute letting that Snake-eyed scumbag employ helpless young women to cover for the real reason he had that bar in the first place.

 

She thought of her and Caity’s time there and scoffed. 4 months they would never get back, but it had been worth it.

 

The Trial with Lanse had gone well enough, she honestly expected nothing less. There had been plenty of evidence, once they’d looked into it enough. Frost thought back to the night they’d found the meta responsible for the shape-shifting.

 

Caitlin had gotten an anonymous tip -- (she suspected it was someone who worked closely with the flash.) So she played along, and let Frost take the wheel when the witness wanted her to meet in private, on a random rooftop in the city.

 

What she found was nothing short of impressive.

 

Here was a meta that had such a pliable molecular structure, he was practically silly putty. And he was good at impersonations.

 

He wanted a plea deal in exchange for his testimony, he was trying desperately to prove that he’d been manipulated and forced into framing someone else for a masterminds crimes.

 

_“So what made you want to come forward about this?”_

 

_“I have a friend who’s basically convinced they can see some good in me.” He explained how his life had gone so far, what caused him to be a PI._

 

_“I don’t think I’m worth that much, not with my shady past... but I do want to help this young man. My... friends seem to think they can protect me from the real criminal, but they made me promise to go the legal route, too. I had to come to you.”_

 

_“Obviously I’m not one to judge,” She gestured to her appearance. “But these friends of yours… I take it they know about your special talent?”_

 

_“Yeah, they… seem to think I could use it to do something good.” He cleared his throat. “Coming forward about this case being a primary example.”_

 

_He_ really _was not trying here at all._ _At this rate, anyone would know he was talking about Barry Allen._

 

_“Listen, if I know anything about having a shady past... and believe me, Dibny, I do, then you should probably listen.”_

 

_She met his eyes and got serious for a moment. “People like us should take every chance at redemption we can get. And if your friend has a way of doing that, take the support.”_

 

_She looked down. “It’s nearly impossible to make a change like that alone.”_

 

After that they worked out the details, him being assured that she was on-board, and they set up a meeting time just before the trial.

 

Then they parted ways as unlikely friends.

 

She was right, though, about Dibny. So was Barry. No one was irredeemable.

 

Frost thought happily back to that night, never one to not trust her gut when it came down to it. They had proven Lanse’ innocence, Ralph had shown up and they got him full immunity, and they turned around what looked like an impossible murder to resolve.

 

They still needed to find and capture DeVoe, but that was another matter entirely.

 

Iris had assured Caity they’d let her know about any leads, and Caitlin had the assistant DA’s working around the clock to find any new information on him or his whereabouts.

 

Frost let out a sigh, almost ready to go to bed… If it weren’t for the elephant in her thought-life.

 

_Cisco Ramon_.

 

She hopes the problem will go away on its own, given how Caity responded to the situation earlier today.

 

It’s not that she doesn’t understand where Caity is coming from, and it's not that Frost hates guys... But she doesn't think guys are that good for them and vise versa.

 

Especially when she doesn't want to go through a repeat of what happened to Ronnie.

 

The topic still stung regardless of how old it was.

 

She decides all too readily that it is a can of worms to open another time, and takes herself up to bed before she can dwell on it any longer.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TKV here: Just some stray thoughts I thought to share with you:  
> \-- Cisco here has captured my heart and needs all the hugs.  
> \--Betov is the fluffiest orange cat. Imagine Cisco struggling to get a cat off his face in the middle of the night because, ahem, boundaries, good grief, Betov.  
> \-- Ralph is not the best at subtlety in any au.
> 
> Paint: About that last line... seconded.


	4. Duel Focus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I think I speak for both tkv and me when I say this chapter was a long time coming but well worth it, thank you for your patience in the middle of us being so busy. We appreciate it!!!
> 
>  
> 
> Lots of love to our leads in this chapter, it's so great when you can just fall for your characters<3
> 
>  
> 
> Enjoy!

Caitlin was up early this morning, giving her and Frost a chance to chat.

 

She eyed her flowy cream colored top in the mirror with her black pencil skirt and approved.

 

Who said you couldn’t be delicate and dangerous. She was both.

 

 _Frost,_ she began as she twisted her hair into a bun on her way down to the kitchen, _I know there’s something we need to discuss, alright?_ She quickly checked that she was doing her curls justice in one of the decorative mirrors in the foyer. It was a classy, respectable low-bun, good enough to hairspray after breakfast.

 

 _I can feel your worries from here,_ she said as she put the pins in.

 

Of course, from here meant the other side of their shared mind, but Frost knew what she meant. She’d been awfully quiet this morning.

 

A sigh and a pause, then a response. _Are you seriously thinking about actually going out with this one?_

 

She sounded groggy.

 

Frost never was the “morning” person of the two. Maybe they should try to get Dr. Tannhauser to explain _that_ one.

 

Caitlin tried her best to keep her own personal brain intact, she liked to believe there was at least a measure of it that belonged solely to her. She continued to chat as she poured them coffee.

 

_He’s just a guy, KF he’s around at work sometimes and we’re bound to see him…_

 

 _Caity,_ she interrupted adamantly, _I will not_ ever _be pretending to date him for you._

 

“I never said you would!” Whoops, that was out loud.

 

It made Caitlin feel less crazy to keep the conversation in their head sometimes, what with their complicated lives. Plus she was half sure if she made it a habit she would accidentally do it in public, too. She flicked on her kettle, waiting for it to boil, pulling out her teacup.

 

_You do realize that he asked about follow up things from our mission, right? There’s still a chance I might have to interact with him!_

 

Caitlin thought about it for a minute, stirring in the dash of milk and sugar and removing the tea bag. _You did fine last time?_

 

_That was under the pretense that we were out of his league! If he thinks you’re dating him and touches me, I’m gonna freeze his hands off!_

 

Caitlin tried to suppress the urge to groan…

 

_Caity, I wasn’t gonna bring this up, but…_

 

 _Don’t,_ Caitlin snapped. That was the last thing she wanted to think about. She wanted to digest her breakfast. She took a sip of her drink and hissed when it burnt her tongue.

 

Frost took over immediately, rolling her eyes fondly at Caitlin’s sensitivity to heat and blew a light gust of cool mist to lower its temperature.

 

Caitlin returned and thanked her, contented with her sip this time and waited for Frost to continue her previous sentence.

 

 _… We said no guys,_ Frost said instead.

 

_That was years ago. We were kids._

 

_It’s served us well so far._

 

Caitlin looked out the window, pensive as she drank her tea.

 

Her mind drifted to old memories of better times, before high school went to heck and her world as she knew it came to an end.

 

It seemed like a distant memory… or another life. Sometimes she couldn’t believe the things she’d seen already.

 

She shook herself out of her walk down memory lane, back to making breakfast to be ready for work.

 

 _Alright,_ she said even though she wanted desperately to see another way around the situation.

 

 _I’ll handle it_ if _it even comes up._

 

She reminded herself after eating not to forget to grab the rogue red lipstick when she went back upstairs for her shoes and jacket.

 

~~~

 

The one thing that Caitlin did not enjoy about CCPD, which differed from her lovely far away DA office at the firm, were the characters that made their way in and out.

 

She climbed the steps to the precinct quickly, her jacket flapping in the wind. The temperature was below average this morning, and she was not dressed properly, flashing a hand over the open coat where it bared her exposed neck, her legs making goosebumps too, Caitlin beginning to second guess that skirt they picked out.

 

She stopped at the door when two officers barged past her, dragging in an arrested man who wouldn’t stop spouting filth.

 

The man, drunk at—Caitlin checked her watch—ten in the morning, leered at her as he stumbled forward, focusing on where she was fighting the weather to not accidentally flash the entire police force what colour bra she was wearing under her blouse.

 

_“Hiya, princess.”_

 

“Ugh!” she exclaimed in disgust.

 

 _“Move it,_ ” officer Jonesy pushed, and they split ways, going to the holding cell.

 

Caitlin took a moment to collect herself, righting her jacket and smoothing out her hair, grumbling. So she didn’t notice Detective Ramon until it was too late. He was leaning casually against the wall, watching her fondly. His hair was tucked behind his ears, badge clipped to his suspenders, tight over his crisp white buttoned shirt and equipped holsters at his hips. She had to force her eyes not to linger on his arms.

 

Caitlin felt Frost sending SOS smoke signals in the back of her mind. She tried to ignore it, thinking she was being dramatic.

 

“Really sorry about that,” Cisco said in lieu of hello, tipping his mug in her direction. “We get our share of creeps here.”

 

“Nothing I can’t handle,” she said, taking a careful step forward. There was something in the way he stood, both relaxed and tired, confident in his skin yet tender. Like maybe he were shy. Frost knew he wasn’t though, and that intrigued Cait.

 

He smiled. “I believe you.” And, oh look. Now she was blushing.

 

Caitlin hears a _sigh_. Without being mean, Frost quietly announces her retreat from the situation and shuts herself out completely.

 

That makes Caitlin sigh. She really is vulnerable to the charm now, without someone to filter sense through the back of her mind, but she knows Frost isn’t _just_ being dramatic... it’s because of a thing.

 

An aromantic thing.

 

It’s nothing personal, she just really hates these situations.

 

She gestured to his drink. “Morning coffee to start the day?”

 

Cisco swished the remainder of what was in his mug, emptying it with a final sip, and swallowed it down with a sigh. “Nope. I’m not allowed coffee on duty anymore.”

 

She hugged her briefcase to her chest, enamored. “What?”

 

He began to explain, “Captain West-Allen says I get too excitable, like a kid on pop rocks. You know, the fizzy candy? Precinct signed a petition and everything,” he rolled his eyes but he was grinning, so Caitlin figured Cisco hadn’t taken the loss too hard. “This is hot chocolate.”

 

Caitlin raised an eyebrow, amused. “Hot cocoa? Really?”

 

“I’m a full grown adult, I swear.”

 

They both chuckled, then shared a silence. It probably should’ve been awkward, but it wasn’t. She saw the way the detective was looking at her, whether it was intentional or not. His eyes falling to her mouth, then flicking up to her eyes, resuming contact. Never inappropriate, never making her uncomfortable. Just, she’d always been particularly good at reading body language. She wasn’t over analyzing their conversations earlier. He _liked_ her.

 

And. Yes, in case it wasn’t clear before, it was definitely mutual. She liked him back. She did.

 

But she made Frost a promise.

 

“There’s nothing I’d love more than to spend the day chatting with you,” Caitlin admitted, surprising herself at her blunt honesty, “But I’m here to meet Iris.”

 

Cisco sighed deeply, pushing himself off the wall. “And I’ve got to find Hartley to start patrolling. Don’t let me hold you back.”

 

“Alright,” she said, sticking her hand out impulsively. Cisco looked down at it briefly before taking it, shaking her hand. Caitlin wanted to smack herself in the forehead. What was she doing, offering a handshake like they were still strangers? It’s been a long time since she last embarrassed herself over a boy.

 

“Have a nice day, Cisco.”

 

“And to you, Miss Caitlin,” saluting at her before spinning on his heel.

 

It was not until Caitlin was knocking at Captain West-Allen’s office door did she realize Cisco mentioned nothing about that mob ring case he claimed he wanted to talk to her about over text.

 

She didn’t know whether she was relieved or disappointed.

 

 

~~~

 

She walked in and found Iris right where she left her last time, standing over piles of paperwork and looking for all the world that she should be more overwhelmed with her day job, but she was so obviously not.

 

“Good morning,” Iris smiled brightly.

 

“You know, Captain, if I didn’t know any better I’d think you missed me, with how often we’re starting to see each other at work,” she jested as she set her purse down.

 

Iris laughed good-naturedly.

 

“Yes, well, you accidentally joined my cause, or didn’t you know?”

 

She looked at her pointedly. “What cause?”

 

Iris looked up again, eyes switching up from the papers in her hand. “My plans to change the policies of the police force, of course.”

 

Now because of her husband, Caitlin could understand, however--

 

“Does, this have anything to do with--”

 

“No, Snow, it has nothing to do with giving you up to the feds.”

 

Caitlin hesitated. “Even if it’s for a good cause?”

 

“I have other plans for your cause.

 

“Oh.”

 

“But I meant what I said, I’ve got to start making this world more meta friendly. You’re not the first… _enhanced_ co-worker I’ve had and you certainly won’t be the last.” She plopped her paperwork down and sank into her chair at last.

“Are you ready to begin helping me through the painstaking process of removing old procedures that have nothing to do with knowledge of metas and replacing them with better ones?”

 

Caitlin crossed her legs, being careful with her next words, unsure she was believing what she thought Iris was implying. “You want to start creating policies for… Bringing in _metahumans?”_

 

“Not just apprehending; employing, partnering alongside, working with. Honestly, DA Snow, we knew this day was coming. And you can’t tell me this isn’t a discussion we should have had a long time ago.” She shuffled her hands and then calmly leveled her gaze. Iris had always been good at persuasion. “So, can I count on you to help me work on this?”

 

This should have been a no brainer for Caitlin. She had the expertise to help guide Iris through the process, that wasn’t the problem. But she had kept her alter ego--

 

_I take offense to that!_

 

Caitlin mentally rolled her eyes.

 

 _What would you prefer? Body hijacker, extra head? ...parasite?_ She joked.

 

 _I prefer to think of us as_ roommates _, in an_ equal _partnership, thank you very much._

 

Caitlin couldn’t resist, God knew Frost had no problem teasing her.

 

_It’s not like you pay rent._

 

_Caitlin Aurora Sn--_

 

“Miss Snow?” Iris waited patiently.

 

_Oh yeah, you should answer that._

 

“I’m sorry --”

 

“I can give you a minute, I know it’s a lot to think over. ”

 

Getting back to that, yes it was. Caitlin had kept Frost a secret for so long, (as amazing a feat that is) she didn’t know how to feel about the opportunity this presented.

 

She didn’t think that Iris would require her to give out the information without her consent, but if she was spotted as Frost around crime scenes _and_ the fact that the government would openly employ metas became common knowledge, people could put two and two together. It would blow some long-time covers that she definitely wanted to keep.

 

It would also cause more people than she’d ever been comfortable with to classify her as some generic meta, which she wasn’t. Not by a long shot. And the only person who even knew about it to that degree was Dr. Tannhauser.

 

Caitlin was no expert, but as far as she knew there had never been a case of duel-identity within a meta, she didn’t want that kind of attention, harassment or misjudgment.

 

The last thing Caitlin wanted was to lose her reputation as a successful, clean lawyer. She built up her expertise as Caitlin Snow, and Frost knew how much it was imperative she couldn’t let anyone mess that up.

 

While Iris was great and all, even she wasn’t gonna know if Caitlin could help it.

 

It was too hard to explain, and she barely understood their arrangement enough herself.

 

“Just so you know, I am only asking you to help me with the paper part of this. I’m not requiring... Any other information from you. It isn’t something that you share often, is it?”

 

She shook her head no.

 

Caitlin could not begin to think up all the ways this was going to affect her personally, but at the end of the day, she knew she couldn’t make this decision only for herself. Other people deserved to be able to make theirs too.

 

“Of course I’ll help you,” she said at last. “It’s the right thing to do, I’ll carve out some time.”

 

Iris smiled her and went to shake her hand.

 

 _Professional,_ Frost commented.

 

“But Iris,” she hesitated before returning the pleasantries, “Captain. If it’s all the same to you I don’t think I feel comfortable sharing any information about me personally, at least at this stage.”

 

“That is the least courtesy I could give you,” she confirmed. “I’ll send you a copy of our confidential policies?”

 

“Yes, I’ll get to looking at them over the weekend.”

 

Caitlin shook her hand and began to gather her things.

 

“And Snow?”

 

She turned.

 

“If you’re here very often because of this, we have office space we can lend you if necessary.”

 

Caitlin smiled at the thought of being around the office of the CCPD a little more frequently. “That would be great. We’ll know soon if we need it.”

 

Iris thanked her again, and Caitlin made her way out of the office. She needed to get back to her team, who were no doubt still pulling up loose ends.

 

~~~

 

She walked through the doors of the DA office and headed past the front desk to the main room, finding it as busy as it should have been given what her team was tasked with.

 

The main room was in the back of the building, more of a station for the team to collectively brainstorm and share their information in the center of their space, with more of the individual offices branching off to the side down the halls.

 

When Caitlin cracked the case on Dominic Lanse it revealed something else; a mastermind behind a string of events that she knew team flash had been trying to pin on a specific name for a while: Clifford DeVoe, who happened to have been missing ever since the trial concluded and it was declared he’d be sought out for additional questioning.

 

With all the departments in the city doing what they could to help aid in the search, it was almost embarrassing that they hadn’t found him yet.

 

As she entered, one of her assistant DA’s walk up with a file in hand, no doubt the background information she’d requested they find before she left this morning.

 

“This is everything we’ve got so far,” Linda, Caitlin’s go-to for precise references said as she passed her the folder. They’ve been working together for years now, having met in school. Linda originally went to school to become a notary but was inspired to change her degree to law instead, causing her to stay an extra few years, and Caitlin knew she’d be perfect for her team when she applied.

 

“What about the wife?” Caitlin inquired as she began scanning the contents.

 

“Nothing of interest yet, it appears that she has stepped off the grid as well,” Roy Harper, one of the newest members of her team interrupted, striding over to answer the question directed at but not exclusively to Linda.

 

Clearly, he was annoyed with how the search was going so far.

 

“Keep looking, there has to be a relative we don’t know about, somewhere they could’ve gone. Check close affiliations. Roy, if you need to, hit the streets and see what you can find out.”

 

“You got it, boss,” and “On it,” we’re spoken unanimously, and Roy followed Linda’s exit around the corner, though no-doubt heading towards his office to change his attire.

 

Caitlin indeed kept scanning the surface of what she’d been given, but the team was right, there wasn’t much to it.

 

She was so absorbed in combing through it for anything useful that she didn’t even notice when Patty approached her.

 

“Boss?” Caitlin looked up, surprised.

 

“Sorry,” she smiled apologetically, “These are the updates on the rest of the cases we’ve picked up since Mr. Lanse’s trial, I think you’ll find the team has been thorough.” Caitlin nodded, lost in thought already. “Will you still be traveling up to see your mother this week?”

 

Caitlin raised her head at that, attempting to focus on something other than the present for a brief second. “Yes, but I trust you. You all can handle yourselves just fine without me. I’ll be in my office if you find anything else, okay?”

 

“Sure thing.”

 

She then excused herself and made her way back to her desk, determined to make some headway in the cases she hadn’t solved.

 

_Any luck on the gang?_

 

 _Not quite,_ Caitlin responded.

 

_Didn’t your cop friend mention something that we should look into?_

 

Caitlin thought about it. _Right, mob ring…_

 

She took out her phone and decided to message the detective.

 

_Cisco?_

 

She waited for a second to get a response.

 

A few bubbles appeared on the bottom of her screen.

 

_Hey again! What’s up?_

 

She paused. It was for the good of the case, considering she hadn’t had fresh intel to go off of in months.

 

_Did you mention something about getting some coffee and chatting about that case?_

 

_Yes, I believe I did :-)_

 

_Does Friday afternoon work for you?_

 

 _That sounds perfect,_ she started, then hesitated. She wanted to tell him that she was looking forward to it, but she knew she was already hedging close to precarious territory, and she didn’t want to mess up their working relationship; especially if he had more to contribute to this case than she and Frost initially thought.

 

 _Great,_ she wrote. _3:30 at Jitters?_

 

_Sounds like a plan, Cariño._

 

_See you then._

 

Caitlin had taken French in high school, so she hadn’t followed along with his added bit of Spanish. If she didn’t have work to catch up on, she might have decided to google it.

 

For now, things were safe as they were.

 

_Thank you, Cisco._

 

_My pleasure._

 

She could do this, she thought. She could spend actual quality time with Cisco Ramon and not get too attached. How hard could that be?

 

...In the deepest, deepest part of her brain she knew very well what a bad idea this was. If there was any man in her line of work that she needed to be concerned about, it was him.

 

She distracted herself by turning back to her station and diving into work, Patty coming in and out to bring her updates about backed up cases.

 

Five hours later and she was calling it a day, closing her tabs and gathering her files to carefully place in her manilla folders. She looked out the window, surprised to see it still bright, but reminded herself that winter was over with a small smile tugging the corner of her lips.

  
She got up and stretched, tangling her fingers into the looped cord to close the shades reluctantly. She made good progress today.

 

Every day she made good progress. It was something she told herself back in law school. Even if it’s just going over last week’s reviews, if Caitlin did only one thing, she should be proud.

  
She returned back to her desk about to power off her monitor when she remembered her text conversation with Cisco.

  
She bit her lip, pulling her phone out to stare at the word.

  
_Cariño._

 

Caitlin was a smart woman. She knew how that sounded, and she’d be kidding herself to deny the word hadn't been floating around all afternoon in the back of her mind. She copied and pasted it into google translate, then paused, and decided to simply google the word into a dictionary with more reliability.

 

_Spanish noun: 1. Term of affection 2. Darling, honey._

 

A rush of warmth flooded her as she blushed madly.

 

 _You want it so bad, Cait,_ Frost laughed, but there was a nervous edge to her voice.

 

Caitlin banged her head against her desk, her hair spilling over her keyboard, alone in her dark office and groaned.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Paint: Hope y'all enjoyed! We worked extra hard on this chapter.
> 
> You guys are the best!!
> 
> **But bonus points to whoever caught my Venom reference.


	5. No Dating Among Coworkers... Her Rules, Not Mine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Paint: Hello again! And you thought we left;-)
> 
> Course not!
> 
> Enjoy chapter 5 :)

 

 

 

The best part about Thursdays were….

 

Cisco poured milk into his cereal, squinting at his ungodly hour blinking at him from the clock on his stove and groaned.

 

Nevermind.

 

There was no best part about Thursdays when up for a shift that started five in the morning.

 

He sat down at his kitchen table with his comforter still wrapped around his body, having dragged it off his bed and down the stairs with him. His thermostat didn’t kick in until seven, and he wasn’t about to waste money by setting it to turn on at _four._

 

He hadn’t had a good night.

 

Cisco thought going to bed early after a week of tiring work would put a man to sleep, but what did he know?

 

His vibes were worsening.

 

He wasn’t sure what that meant exactly. If vibes could get worse, per se. If his powers had a moral alignment.

 

That sounded weird. Of course, his powers didn’t have a moral alignment. They didn’t have a mind of their own. They were a part of Cisco. It was Cisco who got to control how he used his ability, not the other way around. But no matter how much he reasoned with himself, something else nagged at him that he couldn’t ignore.

 

The fact was simple: It wasn’t true, no matter how much he wished it were. Cisco couldn’t control what he saw.

 

 _Dark matter,_ Cisco could hear Barry’s voice in his head.

 

He closed his eyes. The thing was. Whether or not worse was the proper term, his vibes were getting more vivid.

 

He was seeing Dante more frequently. Last night he’d brushed Betov’s fur accidentally, unknowing that the cat was asleep with him on his bed. Cisco was immediately thrust into a moment of Dante’s life, Dante dancing around the kitchen singing to _Perro Fiel_ on the radio.

 

It was so real. Dante with his short hair, dimples, and absolutely terrible dance moves.

 

Cisco gasped out of it, blinking in the dark, and pushed Betov off his bed with his foot.  

 

_How are you supposed to get over your dead brother when you kept seeing him when you didn’t want to? When you least expected?_

  


He ate his breakfast in silence, looking like a grumpy blanket monster until Betov slinked in from who knows where.

 

Cisco reached down and scooped up the cat, holding his breath for another bombardment.

 

Nothing came. He exhaled, scratching his furry head as he finished off the rest of his soggy Cheerios.

 

Betov was surprisingly quiet.

 

He looked down at him. “I thought you were supposed to be nocturnal.”

 

Betov meowed and squirmed, wanting out.

 

“Yeah, okay.”

  


Cisco let him go, pushing his chair back and depositing his bowl in his dishwasher.

 

By the time he was about out the door, he padded back into the kitchen to top up Betov’s food and found him sprawled out on his back, fast asleep making little cat snores.

 

Cisco pouted at him, grumbling under his breath about wanting to be a cat then breached to his usual location: a back alley two blocks from the station.

  


~~~

 

“Tired, Ramon?”

 

Cisco looked up from his desk unimpressed. “The sun isn’t even up yet, Hartley. What are you? A vampire?”

 

Hartley spun the holding cell keys around his finger. “Ha. That’ll make your day, wouldn’t it Francisco? Finding out I’m already dead so you wouldn’t have to kill me yourself.”

 

“You can kill vampires. Sage. A stake. Garlic. Decapitation and a nice bonfire, according to Stephanie Meyer.”

 

Hartley rose a challenging brow at Cisco. “Are you threatening me?”

 

“Noooooooooo,” Cisco sangsonged. “Why? Feel threatened?”

 

Officer Reynolds marched in then, grabbing the keys from Rathaway. “Alright, boys. Play nice.”

 

She unlocked the holding cell, letting out their only overnighter, a college student who caused too much ruckus at a bar and didn’t have enough humility to ask a friend to be bailed.

 

“They’re quite a show, aren’t they?” she asked sarcastically, and the guy nodded his head.

 

“Alright now. Get,” she said, shooing him away. “Don’t let me or any of the officers see you here again.”

 

“Yes Ma’am,” the guy agreed and scampered off like a wimp.

 

Cisco’s eyes lingered on Officer Reynolds as she cleaned the holding cell and locked it firmly, tucking the keys into her belt. She liked being in charge overnights when Captain West-Allen wasn’t in.

 

“What are you staring at?” she snapped. She too was never one for mornings. Or small talk, for that matter.

 

“Nothing,” Cisco said. “Did you cut your hair? Get layers or something? You look different.”

 

Officer Reynold’s face twisted into a scowl over his intentional observations. “Stop it, Cisco.”

 

Hartley looked between the two of them and rolled his eyes like this was the grossest conversation he’d ever witnessed in his life. “I’m getting coffee from the breakroom. You two keep doing that weird game you do _away from me._ ”

 

Cisco lifted a finger like he was trying to catch the attention of a waiter, unperturbed by Hartley’s remark.  “Hot chocolate for me please,” he called after him, only receiving a rude gesture in return.

 

“Adjusting to Rathaway well?” she snarked.

 

“Like water and oil,” Cisco grinned up at her. He got up from his desk and stretched, coming closer. “But you know. What was I expecting? After Dante.”

  
Cynthia didn’t say anything, her mouth pressed in a firm thin line.

 

“Finishing your shift soon?”

 

She nodded and Cisco sighed, watching her ponytail swish as she stalked away.

 

The early hours passed by and Cisco helped four tourists, three harried working-class women who lost their wallets, and a young guy reporting a bicycle theft.

 

Soon enough it was morning. Like, real morning, and Iris walked in with Barry.

 

“Hey guys,” he smiled but it disappeared when he took in the CSI’s appearance.

 

“Barry...?”

 

“I’m fine,” he waved off, holding his ribs and leaning against his wife, trying to play off his severe injury, but he looked downright sickly. “Give me another three hours, and I’ll be fine.”

 

“...Dude.”

 

Iris leaned in close to Cisco, whispering in his ear, “He broke his ribs. Some meta attacked SL last night. I swear Barry had her, but she got away. It was really weird. Every time we did something right, something went wrong.”

 

“Iris,” he said, dropping his voice low. “You’ve got to let me fix up your security systems. And maybe you need a doctor on your team.”

 

“We have a guy for that,” she said.

 

“Julian?” Cisco made a face. “I wouldn’t call him a—“

 

Hartley popped up like a weasel.  “What are you two talking about?”

 

Barry slipped away, retreating to his office taking extremely slow steps.

 

Captain West-Allen folded her arms behind her back, bouncing on her feet a bit, turning from Cisco to smile brightly at Rathaway. “Detective Ramon and I were just talking about your schedules for the day, weren’t we, Cisco?”

 

“Yes Ma’am,” he slipped right into the role, tilting his head at Rathaway. “You wouldn’t happen to be as excited as I am about those kids we’re visiting today, are you?”

 

Hartley scrunched up his nose. “I just don’t see the point when we could be patrolling instead.”

 

“The _point_ ,” Cisco said, walking past officer Jonesy’s desk and tapping the little The Flash bobblehead he had sitting on it, “Is being a positive role model to our young citizens, and educating them about Central City’s codes of conduct as a deterrence method.” He paused in front of Chaplain Stein, who had just wandered in, folding his arms over his chest, watching the team.

 

“Isn’t that right, Chaplain?”

 

If he were to be completely honest, the _real_ point was it gave Cisco a breather. His PTSD will take a hike if all he was doing was showing off his cool pepper spray to a bunch of excited kiddos. Iris knew that, he knew she did. And he’d never ask to go exactly, to be taken off the field. But he appreciated it when it did happen. He was very grateful to have friends as coworkers, as his family.

  


“It sure is,” Stein nodded. “How are you?”

 

Cisco hesitated, not wanting to sound off his game in front of everyone. Yeah, he just admitted that he felt he could confide in them and that they were family, but... He also didn’t want to be coddled. It was a tightrope walk.

 

And he had a reputation here.

 

“As good as one can get after that Game of Thrones episode,” he joked, causing Iris to facepalm, but Stein caught the fatigue in his eye.  
  
He stepped a little closer and brought his voice down a bit, in that gentle way of his. “We can talk later.”

 

Cisco looked to his boss, but Captain West-Allen simply nodded.

 

“Yeah,” he said hoarser. “Okay.”

 

Chaplain Stein clapped him on the shoulder before walking away.

  


~~~

  


It took a good three hours and a boatload of 9-1-1 stickers after for Cisco to remember his date With DA Snow.

 

His eyes went wide, and Hartley gave him a funny look. “Are you going to pass out?”

 

Cisco braced the wall of the passenger side, suddenly very glad Rathaway chose to drive while they finally headed out to do patrol.

 

“I think I might have a date with the smartest woman in Central City,” he whooshed out all in one breath, surprising himself. Why would he tell this to Rathaway?

 

“Van Buren?”

 

“What?” Cisco asked, affronted. “No. Caitlin Snow, the DA.”

 

Rathaway scoffed.

 

“...Wait.” Cisco moved his crush panic to the side for the moment, very alarmed by Hartley’s politics. _“You voted for Mayor Buren?”_

 

“You _arrested_ Mayor Bells.”

 

“I don’t think she’s any better!” Cisco argued. “She forced Barry to resign!”

 

“She had a very clear and precise platform and was simply upholding ethics.”

 

Cisco narrowed his eyes, rolling down the window. “Anyone campaigning only on integrity is suspicious.”

 

“You just have trust issues,” Hartley said.

 

“And you don’t?”

 

Hartley didn’t seem to have an answer for that, much to Cisco’s irritation.

 

But, it gave him a little more time to consider how to take this… Date. At least, he thought it was a date. Was it a date?

 

“Hey, did you seriously want me to stop by your parent's house?” Hartley asked after a few more turns out of the school zone and into the neighborhoods.

 

Cisco remembered that he’d asked that, and suddenly he had a completely different reason to swallow nerves.

 

 

~~~

 

Cisco got out of the patrol car, Hartley parked on the side of the road.

 

“Mind waiting just a minute?”

 

“Nah, don’t worry about it, I’ll let you know if we get anything,” he said, surprisingly accommodating.

 

Cisco took a breath. Only in things pertaining to his family after Dante did Hartley ever decide to turn into a decent human being…

 

“But if we get any action, I’ll be hauling your ass back out here without a second thought!” he called after him before he got too far.

  


Ah, but they were just fleeting moments.

  


Cisco shook his head as he walked, muttering a string of Spanish, _“Arrogante, desagradable, lame botas,_ ” expecting the words to fly over Hartley’s head.

 

“I am _not_ a bootlicker!”

 

Cisco gaped, spinning around on his heel on the sidewalk.

 

“That’s right! I speak Spanish. I’ve known what you and officer Reynolds were saying this entire time! And I also know French! And Latin!” Hartley hollered, leaning his elbow out the window.

 

Wow. Wooooow. And this made Hartley better than him _how?_

 

“Wonderful!” Cisco began as he worked his way up the porch. “And I’ll bet you sound like a dick in every on—“

 

“Francisco Ramon!” Uh oh. He knew that short bark anywhere. He hadn’t noticed his father about to step outside. “Your mother is in the next room.”

 

Cisco stopped short. “I’m sorry, Papa.”

 

His father sighed, looking weary, then met his son’s gaze, almost apologetically. “It is...Good to see you, though.”  

 

Cisco schooled the surprise from his face. _Come again?_

 

Cisco’s father sat down in one of the chairs on the screened in porch, offering Cisco to sit in the other one. Cisco barely believed his ears at the friendliness from his father.

 

“How is Mama,” he found himself saying, his compassion resurfacing too easily, even though he knew better.

 

“She’s… Not getting better.” His dad coughed dryly. “The doctor says if she doesn’t start improving, things could get worse.”

 

“How so?”

 

“He confirmed it’s chronic grief. It can get bad, Mijo. To the point where she may become unwilling to take care of herself.”

 

This was shocking news to Cisco. “You don’t think she’ll get like that, though. Right? Wither away? Papa, she _can’t_.”

 

His father paused, looking like their family’s recent grief had accelerated his age by a decade. “I don’t know, really. She’s...Stopped talking to her friends, even. It’s not a good sign.”

 

His father looked for all the world like he wished he could drown this kind of pain, but it wasn’t budging.

 

“We’ll see,” he said after a minute. “Why don’t you go in and say hi, maybe she’ll brighten up a bit, huh?”

 

“Sure thing, pops,” Cisco mumbled a bit too quietly. Then he got up and slowly went inside.

 

“Mama?” he called as he entered.

 

“ _Mijo?”_ she asked quickly, appearing from around the corner, in the kitchen. When she saw his face, she looked surprised, then quickly burst into tears.

 

“ _Mama_ ,” Cisco choked out as he rushed over to her. She caved and immediately slide down the door frame, and he had a strong feeling that she was distraught that she let herself believe for a minute that he was someone else. In another time, it would’ve been a slap to the face. In another time, a younger, angrier Cisco may have well stormed right back out the house.

 

But that was then.

 

Unable to let past hurts overcome the love he had for his mother, he knelt down and held her as his father ran in and watched, something he’d only done a handful of times in his life, and only in the past eight months.

 

As much as some of their history hurt, they needed to be there for each other now.

 

When he walked out twenty minutes later he quickly brushed away the few stray tears he refused to shed in the house.

 

Hartley was uncharacteristically quiet when they drove off.

  


~~~

 

They took their break in a Walmart parking lot. Hartley pulled his police cap over his face and slouched in his chair, and Cisco pulled out his phone.

 

It probably said a lot that even after work and his visit home, he still had Caitlin on his mind.

 

“Do you mind if I make a phone call?” Cisco asked Hartley.

 

“Shut up, I’m resting my eyes.”

  


“...Are you resting your ears too?”

 

Hartley mumbled something unintelligible, so Cisco quietly told him he’d just be a minute.

 

The phone rang twice, and before he knew it his mouth was dry and he had nothing to say.

 

“What are you, making a doctor’s appointment? You look like you’re gonna be sick—“

  


“Ssshhhh—“

  


“Hello?” sounded the beautiful voice of the DA.

  


“Caitlin!” he called out quickly, an octave higher than usual.

  


He cleared his voice, trying to gain back his more typical low tenor range.

  


“How are you doing?” he asked, trying to be nonchalant.

  


“In between two meetings. You caught me at a good time, what about you?”

  


“Oh, good! I’m on a break too. It’s a ten-hour shift. Tell me about your day.”

  


Hartley groaned. “Can you take your love affair outside?”

 

 

Cisco nearly hit him. Unlocking the door, he got out in a haste.

 

It was nice outside, a little chilly for the season, but among all the shoppers and housewives loading their trunks with groceries and putting away their carts, there was enough activity for Cisco to relax, blending into the scene.

 

Cisco walked around the car and leaned against the back trunk, listening to Caitlin describe a little bit of the hassle she put up with regarding an old client today. Initially wanting to strike up an easy conversation, Cisco ended up getting increasingly invested in what she was saying. He played with his police belt, providing his two cents.

 

“But I thought the firm didn’t take cases on behalf of just anyone?”

 

“Well, before I worked at the DA’s office I had to practice law for a standard two years in order to finish my masters.”

 

This lead her to tell him more about the process she went through just to get this job. It spoke volumes about the kind of person she was.

 

“Fortunately, the cases that had been open at the time allowed me to demonstrate my work ethic to DA Cecile, who I didn’t know at the time was planning on retiring.”

 

He was thoroughly wrapped up in her story now.

 

She stopped suddenly, cutting herself off mid-sentence.

 

“Cisco, I’m sorry.”

 

He stood up straighter, confused. “What? What is it?”

 

“I got you all wrapped up in this boring legal career trajectory. I’m sure there was a reason you called other than to hear my ramblings.”

 

He smiled at the ground. “No,” he protested. “I like hearing about your work. I like talking to you.”

 

There was another pause. “But there was a point to this call. Wasn’t there?”

 

“...Yes,” he admitted.

 

“Well, I’m all ears.”

 

A cheeky thought crossed his mind as he turned to look back into the car. _I’m all ears_ , Caitlin had said. Opposite of Hartley. He liked that.

 

Hartley would kill him, but he loved to rib him in those ways so maybe he’ll tell him as much later.

 

“I just wanted to call and see if we were still on for coffee tomorrow,” he laughed out, and she giggled too.

 

Part of him didn’t even like that it sounded so casual as coffee.

 

But, he was testing the waters, with her. He didn’t know how much would be too much just yet.

 

He could hear the smile in her voice, though, so that was good.

 

“Yes, I’m looking forward to that, actually.”

 

 _Yeah, this was good_.

 

He leaned his elbows up against the roof of the car.

 

Then she added a bit more quickly, “This case is really important, I’m excited to hear what you’ve found out about it.”

 

Cisco bit his lip, unsure what next to say. He was glad to tell her too. But, this wasn’t all that this was, right?

 

After a beat, she said, “I’m sorry I said something so generic like Jitters, though,” and she laughed again.

 

Cisco chuckled a bit, relieved. “That’s alright. Next time I’ll pick. Show you some of the nicer hole-in-the-wall places.”

 

She relaxed again and said it was a deal—Cisco fist pumped—then confirmed the hour again before wishing her a good night.

 

He got off the phone not having to wonder if there was a spark between them or not, there definitely was.

 

He kicked his heels before climbing back in, welcomed by his intolerable partner’s glare.

 

He shrugged it off, telling Hartley he was just jealous.

 

Cisco and Hartley finished their shift together after another grueling two hours of hardly any activity, but they survived. They were given a quiet part of town this time, which gave Cisco time to follow up on some leads of his own. The parking lot gave him a good enough cover that he was able to seem unassuming while he watched the street corners, and occasionally he’d get out and walk the perimeter to discreetly get a vibe on anything suspicious.

 

Cisco was closing up shop and making his way home when he got a text from Barry asking him to come up to his office.

 

The climb up the stairs to the CSI office was habitual, but it still gave Cisco some dread. He’s been good friends with Barry for as long as he could remember, but a request to come upstairs instead of a visit from the scientist at Cisco’s desk downstairs usually meant _secrecy_ , and Cisco has had too many headaches to count on behalf of Barry’s double life.

 

After a knock on the door and a welcoming greeting, Cisco made his way into Barry’s office.

 

He looked around, his hands behind his back, taking in the organized chaos. “Wooooow,” he drawled, when he was face to face with Barry’s _‘Villain Board’_ as Cisco has come to nickname it. Once the murder puzzle wall designated for all evidence in his mother’s death, the hidden board has slowly transformed to represent a map of whatever bizarre nemesis Team Flash has found themselves entangled with that year.

 

This year it was DeVoe. He didn’t blame the guy, Barry ended up a couple weeks in jail, framed for tampering because of him. Cisco flicked his thumb over some news articles tacked on with push pins, taking a moment to look at the most recent addition, a picture of Mr. Lanse and Caitlin on the steps of the courthouse from one of this week’s _Picture News_. He leaned in and saw himself in it with the weirdest expression on his face. Was that how he looked after a vibe? Huh. He’d have to work on that.

 

“Cisco?”

 

He spun around, coming back to reality, Barry watching him with his arms folded over his chest, an eyebrow raised expectantly. Cisco chuckled awkwardly, caught in the act of slipping too deep in his head. “I’m sorry?”

 

“I just said hi, man.”

 

“Oh.” Cisco sat down in a chair and ran a hand through his hair. “Sorry, long day. Hi.” He remembered this morning, although it seemed like forever ago now. “How are the ribs?”

 

Barry stretched his arms wide as if to bare his ribcage, “Good as Adam’s.”

 

Cisco quirked a brow. “...That’s a new one.”

 

Barry agreed, scrunching up his nose. “That sounded better in my head. But yeah. They healed.”  

 

“Caught your troubled girl yet?”

 

“We did! She was apprehended while you were out. Almost blew up the casino.”

 

“Legit?”

 

Barry nodded but gave him a face like the last thing he wanted to do was talk about it. “Hey. I have something you might want to know.”

 

He handed him a stack of photos, of a shady guy meeting with an equally shady but harder to identify guy. Or girl, he wondered as he flipped through the different scenes. Which spoke to how lowkey this meetup must have been.

 

“Is this what I think it is?" he asked with his eyebrows raised.

 

"Yeah, I decided to follow up your hunch on Norvok." Cisco's eyes widened, his energy and excitement suddenly back despite the long hours today.

 

"I happened to be on the other side of town and guess where I found him?"

 

"Get out," Cisco rushed immediately.

 

"China town," they said at the exact same time, giggling with anticipation while Cisco began spreading the photos out on Barry's desk.

 

Cisco had gotten some pretty distinctive vibes about this recently, but he was having trouble getting any hard evidence to prove a connection, so he had mentioned it to his high school friend/meta-powered speedster in the hopes that he could do what Cisco hadn't.

 

Since before he had worked that case with Frost, who he was 90% sure was Caitlin Snow even though she wouldn't admit to anything, he'd been trying to place "Snake" as an accomplice, though his front by all conceivable evidence made it look like he'd been running his op solo.

 

"Dude, you are a lifesaver. I wasn't going to have anything to tell Caitlin if you didn't come through for me—"

 

"Caitlin? As in the DA?"

 

"Yeah, we’re kind of on a first name basis now. I mean she was bound to ask me over coffee tomorrow, and since that's why I originally asked her out I'm glad I'm not just giving her a bunch of theories instead of cold, hard, evidence—"

 

"You're dating the district attorney? As in Iris' favorite work friend, and you decided _not_ to tell me?"

 

"I mean," Cisco floundered, "I wanted to be sure that's what this was!"

 

"So is it?" his friend of 12 plus years asked with exceptional boldness, given his normally reserved demeanor.

 

Cisco let off a shrug. The truth was, he wasn't sure. "I won't know until tomorrow, man."

 

Barry grinned. "She seems like your type."

 

Cisco replayed what his nerdy friend had mentioned a few seconds ago, when they were going back and forth, and coupled that with what he said now.

 

“Wait, you guys legit know Caitlin that well?”

 

It was Barry’s turn to shrug. “She’s known Iris since high school. Remember how Iris transferred out to that all girls prep school in elementary because she was an honors student?”

 

 _Oh yeah._ He spent months consoling his despondent friend, even then, how could he not remember that?

 

“Right, right. So why did she come back to regular high school freshman year?”

 

Barry wore on an unmodest, cheesy grin. “I don’t know, missed me maybe?”

 

“Barry.”

 

“Okay, that _and_ … She always said she was good enough to run with the boys, said she missed all the action and didn’t need a fancy prep school for where she was headed. That wasn’t too long before she told her dad she wanted to be a cop.” Something akin to pride shown in his eyes as he spoke.

 

Cisco almost groaned. Barry always did love a badass woman. But, then again, who was he to judge?

 

“Alright, cool. Well if you say so, then I hope so. ...Caitlin seems amazing,” he admitted quietly.

 

He grabbed friend’s hand, giving him a clap on the back in a semi-decent bro hug.

“You guys are the best. Thanks for helping me with this,” He told him seriously.

 

“Anytime,” Barry affirmed as he turned to leave, finally heading home to retire for the night. “It’s nice to see you acting like yourself again.”

  


~~~

 

Cisco startled awake so bad he yelped.

  


_Ugh,_ that alarm clock _hated_ him.

  


Cisco had gone to bed trying not to dream of a brown haired goddess the previous evening and had failed miserably, but the last blissful bit had been cut off and he didn’t get to see how it ended.

 

 _Why was he so caught up on her already?_ he wondered as he got up to shower.

 

He tried not to let his mind wander off into dangerous territory to potentially answer that.

 

He couldn’t be sure, but he thought he might have woken up next to her, terms of endearments rolling off his tongue in the early morning as he pressed soft kisses to her neck. Could have been more if only the dream had finished.

 

He quickly turned the water to cold and diverted from that train of thought, embarrassed that it had already gone so far. But, he had to admit, it was more because the dream felt so _real_ that it had stuck with him so much. And he was blissful in it, a ball of happiness in his chest that had nothing to do with sexual fulfillment, though he was pretty sure that was also an area that dream Cisco was satisfied with.

 

He told himself that it was far too soon for him to be thinking this way and quickly to towel off and go make breakfast, preparing for his early morning meeting with Stein.

  


~~~

  


Friday’s were normally his day off, but he usually tried to make room for the kind chaplain when he could… Not every week, but monthly visits were consistent these days. He was kind, and he understood, even if it was hard for Cisco to look another person on the force in the eye and admit how he’d failed.

 

But then… It was never easy.

 

“How are you dealing with these things, Cisco?”

 

He had just brought up the development with his mother. Stein had known the rest, had been one of the few people on the for that Cisco had willingly cried to, and been there for every meltdown that the therapy group couldn’t handle.

 

He was fine, so long as he was in a safe place, but that didn’t make the truth any easier to face.

 

He wished he had an answer for him, that he could be completely honest, but there were some days that he was just happy to escape the worst of it, so he didn’t. He wished he could say that it didn’t bother him as much that his brother died. Maybe it wouldn’t still be this bad if he didn’t always _see_ him, but Cisco couldn’t talk about that here without revealing his powers.

 

That left the Chaplain to probe into his feelings trying to find other reasons… It made these meetings tricky, he wasn’t allowed to avoid much.

 

Worse was, he couldn’t even bring himself to tell to Barry… He didn’t understand why, but he just... Couldn’t.

 

“The reason I ask,” Stein began again, “is because I recognize one feeling, that I think I see on your face every time we talk. Do you know what that is?”

 

Cisco looked at the floor.

 

“What’s that?” he asked after a pained minute.

 

“Regret. Does this have anything to do with how your mother reacted the other day?”

 

He took a deep breath. Leave it to Stein to hit the nail on the head, even when it’s sensitive and he’s not being told all the details.

 

“The thing is, Francisco… In the event of his death, you know you did everything that could have been done, right? You’re not to blame.”

 

 _That’s a lie._ His merciless thoughts said immediately. _I could’ve, you just don’t know that. I should have_ seen _it coming. I didn’t._

 

Again, a conversation he couldn’t have here.

 

He shook a little bit as he thought about what Stein was saying, though.

 

“You should have seen her face,” he said, fidgeting back and forth with his hands. One moment they’d be one his face, the next, clasped in front of him. “One look and I knew… She thought I was him. And it broke her,” he shuddered as he finished.

 

“I just wish there was something more I could have done,” he said at last.

  


“Like what?” Stein asked, a bit sarcastically. “Son, I love you and your family dearly, and I grieved for Dante… But I know that I could never blame you, and I know that there is nothing you can change about the past by blaming yourself. I hope you’ll take that to heart.”

  


~~~

 

Cisco walked out of the meeting an hour later a bit emotionally tired, but less burdened than when he walked in. Something about the wise old man he’d taken an instant liking to did that for him, though he never understood why.

 

Somehow when he left he was always more capable of accepting his brokenness, so that he could take the steps towards healing. It was a gradual process, but it was happening. Perhaps it was Stein’s kind and accepting demeanor… Maybe it was that he calmly told him the truth. The truth was always easier to avoid but it hurt more to do it that way instead of facing it.

 

Stein was good at getting him lovingly out of that funk and into practical reasoning. You wanna grow, you gotta prune. Some things aren’t worth keeping in your heart. _Especially guilt,_ he would say.

 

Cisco checked his watch and debated whether or not it made sense to go back home before coming back. He walked down the hall to the main lobby, right outside the detective offices.

 

It was busier in this part than it should have been, he wondered why.

 

He lit up when he saw a familiar face and walked over, his introspective analyzing put to a halt. He didn’t mind, actually.

 

“Is it already 3:30?” he joked.

 

Caitlin turned around, startled at first, but melted into a pleasant smile. “Hi, Cisco.”

 

He leaned against the wall, folding his arms over his chest, trying to play it casual regardless of the fireworks that started dancing around in his chest. This was casual, right? Why was he acting like this?

 

He’s an idiot.

 

“What’s going on?” he asked, a bit breathy, but he plowed through anyway.

 

She grinned at him still, though almost as if she had been watching a cute kitten video. Not _exactly_ what he was going for, but hey. It still felt nice.

 

“I was actually just coming out of...”

 

“Why did I even ask?” He laughed all the sudden. “Iris?”

 

“Right,” she laughed back.

 

He nodded, trying to make himself forget his flub. “What are you guys always so busy working on, if you don’t mind me asking?”

 

“Oh, I’m helping her rewrite some things. I’m actually legally bound to confidentiality so don’t tell anyone I told you that much, but—“

 

Cisco stuck his fingers in his ears. “Ahh! Don’t tell me! I’m not getting you in trouble with the law! It’s fine! I don’t need to know!”

 

Caitlin huffed out an amused sound, “It’s not _that_ serious.”

 

“No, no, forgive me. It’s just I feel like I’m starting to see you around here a lot. ...Not that I mind!” he added quickly, which caused a light flush to color her cheeks, he brought his hands back down awkwardly.

 

“It’s not just your imagination,” she confirmed. “I like it here, besides.”

 

“Really? Why? The nice metropolitan complex? Being at the geographical heart of the city?” he fished, indulging himself. He didn’t expect her response.

 

Caitlin shrugged. “And the people who work here.”

 

Cisco logically knew she was talking about his Captain, scolding the hope in his chest to settle down.

 

But then again, that was not the only reason she was supposed to be around the police station today, was it? After all, Jitters was only a short walk around the corner.

 

"So, did you have somewhere else to be after this?"

 

Caitlin checked her clipboard. "You know, I have a meeting later after 3, but honestly I'm thinking about rescheduling it." Her smile was brilliant.

 

"To Jitters, then. After you," he made a sweeping gesture with his arm and politely let her take the lead.

 

The moment they reached their destination, Cisco opened the door and let Caitlin in before him at Jitters, but stopped only two steps later when she stalled.

 

The place was packed.

 

“Oh my goodness,” she said surprised, looking at the line. “I’m so sorry, this isn’t what I was expecting.” She had needed to lean in a bit closer to be heard over the crowd, but Cisco didn’t mind.

 

Instead of looking disappointed, he threw a mischievous looking smirk her way. “I think I can help with that. If you want, we can take this somewhere else. Want to try one of my favorite places?” he asked, the minutes spent walking over with her helping to calm him down, allowing him to be excited about where he was going to take her.

 

She looked surprised and pleased and thanked him kindly.

 

He went so far as to place a guiding hand on her lower back as they walk back onto the street.

 

 

 

~~~

 

“Oh my god,” she breathed as they walked in.

 

It was perfect.

 

The long story short, Cisco’s friend owned a cantina that was a fusion between the best home cooked breakfasts and native Hawaiian coffee beans from a lucky business connection, (—Which he had _nothing_ to do with—) that altogether made one of the most unique and delicious little hole-in-the-wall places in town. They sold a variety of things throughout the day, but truth be told they were better than any café. Cisco was so excited to bring her here, he was practically buzzing.

 

“What do you think?” he asked, biting his lip in anticipation.

 

“I think it smells amazing, tell me we’re also eating in?” she smiled wide in amazement.

 

“Of course, if you’ve got room—”

 

Just then his friend walked out.

 

“Cisco!” he rolled out in an obvious accent.

 

“Good to see you, my friend!”

 

 _“Eli!_ _La comida huele genial, ¿cómo estás?”_ he laughed back. “Oh, I’m so sorry,” he said, throwing an arm behind he to gesture to her properly, “This is Caitlin Snow. Master attorney by day, beautiful crime solver by night.”

 

“ _Ah yes!_ Of course, I recognize the city’s wonderful DA. My kids even cheered when you won that phenomenal case the other week.” She blushed heavily under the praise, it was cute.

 

“What can I do for you two this afternoon? Dining in, I hope?”

 

Cisco looked at her to confirm, delighted to find her eyes practically begging him to say yes. “Uh yeah, I think so. Yes please.”

 

“Perfect! Right this way, I’ve got a great spot for you.”

 

He wasn’t wrong. The cafe was not that huge, but it had a second story in the main dining area, over which a balcony overlooked, and no one seemed to care that it was still daytime and entirely too early to enjoy a place to eat this much. It would not be difficult to identify this with a rainforest café, except this was softer on the ambiance and a bit more bright. He half expected little birds to flit around in the decorative trees, though.

 

And Cisco knew it could turn from lovely and springy to soft and romantic with just the flicker of candlelight in the evening, it really was a great place.

 

“Cisco, this place is _amazing,”_ she gushed as they sat down.

 

“Yeah,” he agreed calmly. “Eli is a brilliant businessman, he’s doing great. You sure this is okay over jitters? I know this was meant to be a more casual coffee..”

 

“I wish I could disagree, but this place is so great I think I have to thank you instead,” she answered. “How is it that you two know each other?”

 

“I, well... _Might_ have stopped an armed robbery here one night. Nothing too fancy, a few thugs with handguns. Anyway, this place wasn’t damaged too badly, but after Eli became friends with someone on the police force he said he was brave enough to actually pour some money into this place, so... Here we are. Oh, and their coffee is great, I also knew someone who was closing down and moving back to Hawaii at the time, and they were about to work out a deal. So nothing major, but I may get discounts sometimes,” he finished as modest as he could. It was difficult, but he didn’t want to turn her off by bragging too much.

 

She just laughed. "Hm, I don't know why it's hard to picture you in a kind of scenario like that. Though I'm sure you're great at it," she added quickly, "it's just, I've only ever seen you be kind and supportive, I guess."

 

He couldn't help but smile at that. "Enforcing justice may look violent, but it's just the other side of kindness. If you're able to help in an unfortunate situation, you should." Even while he said it, he wondered if what she had meant even referred to the time that he had done recon for Frost… and taken care of her wounds, though there were hardly any, for which he was grateful. She didn't need his help, but she had it.

 

"I know I'm talking to someone who spends more time at their charities than movie stars do, though,” he said after a thought.

 

She smiled a little, watching him rather fondly. "Says the cop who visits all the schools."

 

He narrowed his eyes, "How did—?"

 

She almost looked surprised at herself, but their waiter came back for their drinks and they went ahead and ordered, Cisco forgetting his question in the middle of helping her choose an entree.

 

"The salad will be fine, and with your dark brew, thank you,” she told the server as he rushed off.

 

"I'll keep it light, considering how early it is for to be eating dinner."

 

"Oh, believe me, their salads are good enough to take home," he reasoned, fine with her decision. "But, when this appetizer comes you have to try it, okay? Just one bite," he said when she shook her head.

 

"Alright, alright,” she conceded.

 

"So, what is it that's got you so excited about this case? I assumed you were referring to something more recent?"

 

He grinned at her excitement. It seemed like she really loved her job.

 

"Well, I've been doing some digging in the burrows, and Iris knows this, but I've been…" He tried to find a way to best describe his vibes without telling her about them yet, since he had no confirmation that she was who he thought she was.

 

...Which was crazy, because he felt like he already knew her _so_ well.

 

"—Hearing some rumors that I think may tie into one of your, yes, more recent cases," He supplied. "You remember Norvok?"

 

He purposely flicked his eyes at her conspiratorially, wondering if she would catch what he was trying to do, but she didn't know any signs of surprise or otherwise, that would indicate she was Frost.

 

Her answer was smooth and calm. "Yes, he was put away not too long ago."

 

"Right… you did some undercover work for that case, didn't you?" He would have complimented her going above and beyond, sort of like they were talking about earlier, but her reaction gave him pause.

 

She stammered a bit more than usual but returned to normal quickly. Cisco usually paid extra attention to his powers in situations like this, though granted they were normally for his job, but she was different. He wanted her to tell him without him having to pry… More than he already was. He enjoyed the mystery, but he enjoyed getting close to her naturally even more.

 

"I.. did. Yes. I worked at the bar in the evenings for a couple months, actually." She wiped her hands on her pant legs subtly. A nervous tick, he observed. _Stop it. Get out of detective mode_.

 

He remembered hearing that she had done that… He was pretty sure it just made his infatuation worse. Her dedication and layered badassery set her apart, in a really attractive way. She was determined.

 

Did he just inwardly swoon?

 

"Right. So...I think he might have been working for someone."

 

"Do you have proof? How did you find out?"

 

"...Call it good instinct? I followed a hunch…And here's what I found." He felt bad not being completely honest, but at the same time, he didn't want to scare her off… Even though his gut said he didn't need to worry about that.

 

He pulled out his phone and showed her some surveillance photos.

 

"This puts him on the opposite side of town that he normally dealt in… meeting an unseen figure at one in the morning."

 

Caitlin's eyes widened. "You're sure?"

 

"Oh yeah, this is him. My bet is he was working for someone, which would mean this case is bigger than well all originally assumed. Did you notice anything strange while you were working there?"

 

"Honestly, I wasn't there long enough to be trusted with anything like that, plus all I really wanted to do was interrupt the deal and get the firearms off the street."

 

Cisco gave her another look.

 

He remembered that being Frost's main reason for stopping him one patrol one night and basically convincing him that he needed to help her out. She nearly dented his hood.

 

He thought he'd been selected at random, until later when he asked her as they were getting set up the night of the OP. It was then that she admitted that she witnessed him discreetly helping The Flash and that's why she knew she could trust him.

 

He tried asking her how long she'd been doing this, but it was then that she started to close up and accused him of always being so chatty.

 

He knew he couldn't ask much more of her then.

 

He had tried to find her again around the same area on nights he was on patrol out of sheer curiosity, but it was apparent that she was done with that mission and wouldn't resurface again without a reason.

 

So he followed the case the old fashioned way...Right into Caitlin's courtroom.

 

The more they—Well, he, but possibly they— _Gosh, it was confusing_ —skirted around the subject of Frost, the more Cisco itched for another clue. That first time he’d vibed her, it had to have been for a reason.

 

She was biting her lip for a reason when he brought it up, even though it disappeared immediately, her face smoothing over, he still caught it. How easy would it be to drop all this careful wording and covert investigation on this girl he actually really liked and just get a definite answer.

 

In his pause he noticed her reaching for sugar for her coffee. She had looked down at his phone again, absentmindedly reaching towards the sweetener.

 

Honestly, _Splenda?_

 

On impulse, he grabbed a couple, pressing them into her palm with an amused but fond expression, hoping the skin on skin contact will do the trick and trigger another vision. It didn't. Caitlin looked up, sucking in a breath, her eyes snapping up to meet his.

 

He pulled his hand back. He didn’t mean to _startle_ her.

 

An apology was at the tip of his tongue, but it died. _Sorry, I tried to use my powers on you to see if you’re hiding something from me?_ Yeah, no. _Sorry, I passed you artificial sugar?_

 

Caitlin’s Splenda slipped out of her grasp, through her fingers, and she sat back in her chair, straightening her shoulders, casting a glance aside for a moment before returning, clasping her hands in her lap.

 

"Cisco, I'm sorry. I need to tell you something,” she said abruptly, looking pained all the sudden. "I've really enjoyed this, I have. I'm sorry, I wish I'd told you sooner. It's just normally a rule of mine that... I don't date coworkers."

 

Cisco screwed up. Him and his damn Icarus complex.  
  
He paused long enough to make her nervous, and said with all seriousness, "Okay, but you still have to finish your salad."  
  
She gawked at him. "I... are you serious?"

 

That was kind of sad to hear. Did Caitlin think he’d just get up and ditch her the moment she’d say she’s not interested? Was he giving off major _I’m only into you for your tight blouse and pencil skirts_ kind of vibe? Cisco didn’t think he was. Is this what most women were used to? _Yikes_ .    
  
"Completely," he responded. She sighed in relief when she realized he wasn’t joking.  
  
"I really am sorry," she started to say.  
  
"No, no," he stopped her, kind of wanting to drag his hand over his face and groan. "I'm sorry if this whole time I've been making you uncomfortable, though I swear I didn't know…But I do expect you to enjoy your meal, which I _will_ still be picking up the tab for."

 

"You don't have to do that," she protested immediately.

 

"Oh, yes I do. I invited you out and it was only supposed to be coffee so it's my treat."  
  
She shook her head, "Thank you, for this and for understanding. And no, you haven't made me uncomfortable," she finished softly.  
  
He gave her a small smile back, a bit disappointed but he couldn't be mad at her. "Friends then, since I'll probably be seeing you at the office still after this?"  
  
The eyes she gave him looked like melted chocolate, sadder than was necessary. He'd still like to be her friend. But maybe he’d have to cool it on the Sherlock Holmes. "Absolutely. I have to pay you back for this," she said with a grin.  
  
They faded off into calm small chat, him asking her what she thinks she'll do with all this new information.

 

He couldn't really understand what she wanted beyond what she said, but for her sake, he tried to believe she had a good reason.

  
  
~~~  


 

Cisco went grocery shopping and made a trip to the hardware store to help fix that leaky faucet in his bathroom before getting back home. He put his purchases away and scratched Betov as he whined for food despite having plenty enough in his bowl.

 

The rest of the evening passed by with Netflix, dinner, and a few back and forth texts in the CCPD group chat until he called it a night, wanting to try and see if this sleep thing would let him give it a go.

 

Once he finally crawled under the covers, his mind started to drift as it tended to, particularly replaying the _non_ -date he had with the DA.

 

Their entire week’s worth of interactions honestly boiled down to one fact: Caitlin Snow was a great catch, and he really thought they had hit it off, but…Some things weren't meant to be.

 

That was alright. Cisco loved making new friends, and he still had a lot of hope for this one. But it was also alright to wonder wistfully how the day could have otherwise gone, if only for a little while.

 

Cisco was also strung up thinking about the interaction with his mom the other day, and how she’d reacted when she’d seen him, given what he and Stein had spoken about this morning.

 

His thoughts stirred him to the point that he got up and opened the large glass door in his bedroom that lead to a small balcony.

 

_It had been one of the first times she’d seen him in uniform since his brother died._

 

The other time, well, he tried hard not to remember.

 

He hadn’t been kidding the times he’d told the people at the grief meetings and Stein that Dante was the favorite.

 

He could never do anything wrong—and in every place that he had interests or talents, he could never fail. Cisco liked everything else that didn’t measure up, wasn’t good enough, or just wasn’t as special as what his brother chose.

 

He couldn’t relate, couldn’t connect with his parents the way his brother had, but Cisco never blamed him for that.

 

All the same…Growing up Dante did everything right, even when he didn’t, and Cisco lived in his shadow, everything he’s ever done remembered as second best.

 

When Dante died, it had been his job to go home and tell his family. He barely remembered anything but the trepidation that filled him as he walked up the steps, his own guilt and grief too fresh for him to function, much less remember that he should have washed up.

 

He had carried Dante to the cruiser and gotten him to the hospital, blood coating his hands and uniform from attempting to save his life. By the time they pronounced his death officially, Cisco was too numb to care much about the clothes.

 

He’d gone straight to his parent's house, thinking about how much worse it would be if he delayed in telling them. His brother normally would have been coming home for dinner around that time after his shift.

 

So when he showed up on the doorstep, stricken and bloody, it didn’t take long for his parents to put two and two together.

 

 _“How could you!”_ his mother had screamed. _“You were supposed to_ protect _him!”_

 

The reality of the situation had slammed into him all over again, too much for him and he’d hardly been there a minute. He just kept apologizing.

 

 _“Get out! Leave!”_ she had screamed mercilessly, kicking and thrashing, his father doing nothing to stop her but hold onto her while she cursed and cried.

 

He’d left and gone to Iris and Barry that night, begging them to do something to fix his mistakes.

 

 _“How could I have not seen it coming?”_ he had cried to his friends, appealing to the hero in Barry to please do what he couldn’t. Barry was reluctant, but Iris agreed, and so working together that night they made many attempts to save Dante’s life.

 

And all failed.

 

 _A fixed point in the timeline,_ Barry said.

 

There was nothing they could do to stop it.

 

That night Cisco sat on a lonely rooftop overlooking the water, sitting precariously close to the edge, but couldn’t bring himself to give a damn.

 

 _Why not me?_ he thought. _It should have been me._

 

He did not see or talk to his parents again save the day of the funeral, but even then the tension was thick and he could tell that nothing had changed.

 

He was in a bad spot. He knew it, Barry knew it, Captain West-Allen knew it--And what happened with Cynthia. It hurt Cisco to think about it. Everything was all so terrible, and he was awful to be around. He spent most of his days at home, wallowing in his grief-stricken horror, reliving the night in vivid detail in flashes of memory, but also in haunted dreams. And then, the in between. The vibes.

 

Three months later, after cards and apologies and her own shame caught up to her, his mother asked him to come home.

 

He hadn’t gone at first but had felt so empty, and he was tired of it. Sick of the trauma. Sick of feeling sick. And exhausted by feeling alone. The two months he had been on leave and the therapy Chaplain Stein insisted on... It wasn’t something he should’ve been doing by himself, and he felt his parents’ absence more then than he ever did before.

 

So tentatively, he started coming around more, sharing a couple of meals, here and there. Letting his mother and father apologize in person, each in their own time and in their own way. Never too much, but it was something.

 

His mother eventually shared with him a bit about how lost she felt without Dante, how empty everything felt without him, and even worse without Cisco.

 

Cisco admitted to feeling the same, considering how much of his life used to revolve around his brother, for all the things he used to say.

 

It was the first thing they’d agreed on in a long time.

 

He’d spent some more time just sitting on the porch with his father, reminiscent of old times, but his father spoke to him more, now. Cisco thought he was finally starting to see him as a man of his own.  

 

It was a slow, steady climb to get to where they were, but he felt like they were headed towards a good place.

 

He didn’t belong in his brother's shadow, and his parents knew that now.

 

He thought about his mom and her road to recovery and had just started to wonder if seeing an old familiar face might do the trick when his phone _dinged_ and scared the crap out of him.

 

 _Hey, is this your sweatshirt? Found it in my dirty clothes._ He read it, looking at the attached JPG.

 

Yup, most definitely his sweater.

 

 _You stole that, Cindy. Don’t lie,_ he replied.

 

_Yeah, well. Guess I’ll keep it since you clearly don’t want it back._

 

He chuckled, then thought about what he’d been thinking when her uncanny text popped up. If he didn’t know any better he’d think she had powers like him. But she didn’t, because then she would have inevitably vibed some embarrassing things off him, things that would no doubt be blackmail worthy and fodder for teasing until he died. Also. She would’ve told him. Cisco was pretty sure.

 

… _I went to see mom the other day,_ he typed after a minute.

 

He waited, no response.

 

Three little bubbles appeared then disappeared.

 

_Did you finally tell them off like you should have the moment they said those awful things to you?_

 

Cynthia hadn’t believed him when he first told her, but it wasn’t long after he stopped visiting that she did too and later told him he’d been right, apologizing.

 

_… She’s getting worse, there’s no time for that. You should come home and see her, I’m sure it would help a lot._

 

_Idk, Cisco. And ignore the way they used to treat you?_

 

He had to think about that, the favoritism did always seem to lessen when she was around. She didn’t know until recently. But…

 

_“Things are different now. Besides, we’re family, and we need each other… That includes you. Will you think about it?”_

 

_“...Maybe.”_

  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If Cisco is witty: It’s tkv  
> If Cisco is very realist: It’s Paint
> 
> If Caitlin is fighting the crush: It’s tkv  
> If Caitlin is doing her job: It’s Paint
> 
> Hartley: Yeah that’s tkv
> 
> Cynthia: Yeah that’s mostly tkv too
> 
> Any supportive character sounding wise: Paint
> 
> Iris: *Paint in blinking lights*


End file.
